


Didn’t Mean It

by bluemoonblues



Series: If You Need Me [8]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Age Play, Age Regression/De-Aging, Barbie Dolls, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Non-Sexual Age Play, Sibling Bonding, Tony has a rough night, but things are okay in the end!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:26:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21982885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemoonblues/pseuds/bluemoonblues
Summary: Kate hadn’t meant to hurt Tony’s feelings. People said things they didn’t mean out of anger all the time, but Tony didn’t see it that way and Kate didn’t know how to convince him otherwise.
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo & Caitlin Todd, Anthony DiNozzo & Jethro Gibbs, Jethro Gibbs & Caitlin Todd
Series: If You Need Me [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564711
Comments: 11
Kudos: 98





	Didn’t Mean It

Kate tapped her fingers happily against the steering wheel of her car as she drove to Gibbs’ house, more than ready to forget about all of her adult worries for the rest of the night. She knew that she’d have no trouble slipping into a younger mindset as soon as she got to pull out her toys. It had been _ that _ kind of a week, and she could feel her younger side itching to take over for a bit.

She pulled into Gibbs’ driveway right behind his car, which still had Gibbs and Tony inside. Tony hadn’t been able to wait until they had arrived at Gibbs’ house before he had started slipping, so Gibbs had driven him over while Kate drove her own car, preferring to have her car with her rather than have to pick it up from work later.

As Kate opened the door and got out, Gibbs and Tony did the same, Tony nearly vibrating with energy as he hopped out of the car.

“Hey, kiddo,” Gibbs said to Kate. He gave her a kind smile and Kate grinned back, feeling all her adult worries start to slip away as her younger self took over. Tony ran to the front door, bouncing in place as he waited for Kate and Papa to make their way up the front porch.

“Hey, Papa,” she replied. “What’s for dinner tonight? I’m really hungry.”

“I’m thinking lasagna. How does that sound?”

“Good! Can I play before dinner?”

“Sure thing. Dinner won’t be ready for at least an hour,” Papa replied. “While you two get changed, I’ll pull out your toys.”

Papa and Kate made it to the front door and Papa opened it, letting Kate and Tony inside first. Tony rushed into the house and ran up the stairs to the bathroom, humming the whole time. Kate went upstairs as well but went into the guest bedroom, changing into a pair of purple yoga pants and a t-shirt. She didn’t want to wear icky work clothes while she played.

Kate finished changing and went back downstairs where Papa had pulled out her and Tony’s toys already. She sat down next to her toy box, pulling out a few of her dolls and began to narrate a trip to the mall in her head while she waited for Tony to come downstairs.

Papa was in the kitchen, but he entered the room as Tony, who was now wearing his favorite pair of pajamas, ran down the stairs. Papa fixed him with a stern look and Tony’s footsteps slowed. They weren’t supposed to run in the house, but Tony struggled to follow that rule.

“Hey, no running,” Papa reminded Tony. Tony gave him an apologetic glance as he briskly walked the rest of the way into the living room. “You put on protection, kiddo?”

“Mhm!” Tony hummed, diving for his toy box. He pulled out toy after toy, throwing them behind him with hardly a glance as Kate yelped.

“Tony! You’re gonna hit me!” Kate exclaimed, backing away from him.

“Hey,” Papa warned, sitting down in his armchair. “Stop throwing your toys, Tony.”

“Sorry,” Tony said, not sounding sorry at all but stopping his assault.

“Whatever,” Kate sighed. Tony really got on her nerves sometimes, but tonight she decided to just drop it. She really just wanted to go ahead and play. “Do you want to play with me?”

“Sure,” Tony said, turning away from his toy box and putting his thumb in his mouth. “Wha’ we gonna play?”

Papa pulled Tony’s thumb from his mouth and Tony whined until Papa popped a pacifier between his lips to replace it. Tony began to suck, content, and Kate picked up a doll and handed it to him.

“Why don’t we play astronauts? I wanna play with my dolls tonight and you like space,” Kate said, grabbing her favorite doll, a Barbie that had lots of different outfits Kate could dress her in. Kate had only had the doll for a few weeks but her Barbie was her best toy by  _ far _ .

“‘Kay,” Tony agreed, not caring in the slightest that dolls were a toy that boys got made fun of for playing with. At first he’d been wary of playing with Kate’s dolls for that very reason, but Kate and Papa had both assured him that no one would make fun of him, and it was okay for him to play with her dolls. Well, if he promised not to put the smaller parts anywhere near his mouth, that was. Now, he played with Kate’s dolls just as much as Kate played with his toys.

“Cool. You can play with any of my dolls except my Barbie, alright?” Kate said, trying her best to sound stern. She didn’t mind sharing, but her Barbie doll was her favorite toy.

“Uh huh,” Tony said, observing the one Kate had handed to him. She had on a doctor’s coat and a stethoscope, but Kate guessed they could pretend she was a scientist.

Kate began the game, making her Barbie a brave astronaut trying to fly to a magical planet, and Tony’s doll the genius scientist trying to navigate her there. They played their first game for nearly thirty minutes as Papa cooked dinner in the kitchen, the smell of cooking lasagna steadily growing stronger. Kate’s stomach was starting to growl in response.

The first game came naturally to a close and they were preparing to begin a second, but this time, Tony decided that he wanted to play with Kate’s Barbie. But Kate had said that was the  _ one  _ toy she didn’t want to share!

“No, Tony. I told you that you could play with any of my toys except my Barbie. She’s the only toy I want for myself!” Kate exclaimed, holding her Barbie away from his reach.

“Why not? It’s not fair that you won’t share!” Tony whined, crossing his arms.

“I  _ am  _ sharing! Just not her!” Kate argued. She was sharing  _ all  _ of her toys except for her Barbie!

Tony glared at her in response. He eyed Kate’s Barbie in her hands, and just as Kate was preparing to warn him not to try anything, he lunged forward and grabbed the doll, pulling Kate forward as he yanked on her doll’s head.

“Tony! Let  _ go  _ of her!” Kate cried, panicking as she felt her doll’s joints creak under her fingers.

“No! Share!” Tony yelled, giving another hard tug on Kate’s Barbie.

“You can have another toy!” Kate exclaimed, yanking back as hard as she could.

“No! Want her!”

“Stop, Tony! You’re gonna—“

Kate was cut off as the toy between them broke and sent her flying backwards. She looked down at the headless Barbie doll in her hands as her eyes began to water. 

For a second, the living room fell completely silent. Then, Tony spoke and Kate saw nothing but red.

“I’m sorry, Katie! I didn’ mean to!” Tony exclaimed, eyes wide.

“You broke her, Tony!” Kate cried, snatching the head from Tony’s hand. She couldn’t believe that her favorite doll was now in pieces, all because Tony wouldn’t let her have anything to herself.

“I didn’ mean to! I’m sorry!” Tony whimpered, voice thick with unshed tears.

“You’re the worst! She was my favorite doll and you broke her, Tony! I’ll never forgive you!”

Tony began to cry in earnest, big eyes filling with tears that quickly spilled onto his cheeks as his lip wobbled. His breaths started to hitch harder and harder as he tried to hold back his cries, to no avail.

Papa entered the room to see what was the matter, but Kate didn’t even look at him, too upset with Tony to turn her attention away. She simply couldn’t believe that Tony would break her favorite doll when she had so many others that she was willing to let him to play with. She’d never been so mad at Tony, not even when he was an adult and went through her things at work.

“You’re the worst baby brother ever!” Kate yelled.

“I-I’m s-s-sorry! I didn’  _ mean to!”  _ Tony wailed. Sobs shook his body and his face turned bright red as he hiccuped his way through repeated apologies.

“Hey, hey, hey! What’s going on in here?” Papa exclaimed, rushing over to Tony and pulling him into a hug. Tony immediately shoved his face into Papa’s shoulder, muffling his sobs.

“Tony broke my favorite doll! He took her and wouldn’t let go of her when I tried to take her back, even though I said he could play with any of the others!” Kate exclaimed, rubbing away the tears in her eyes. She wasn’t a huge baby like Tony — she wasn’t gonna cry.

“That was wrong of him, but Kate, you should’ve gotten me. You said some hurtful things to Tony. Just because he broke your doll doesn’t give you permission to hurt his feelings.” Papa scolded. Kate bit her lip.

“But… he broke my doll,” she whispered. Her eyes still kept watering and she swiped at them frustratedly.

“He should’ve been more careful with your toys, I agree, and I plan to talk to him about that. But do you really think he’s the worst baby brother ever?” Papa asked. As he said the words, Tony’s crying picked up and Kate flinched, her eyes filling with tears.

Sure, Tony got on her nerves sometimes, but she didn’t  _ really  _ think he was the worst baby brother ever. Maybe saying that to him had been kind of mean. And he seemed pretty upset.

“No,” Kate finally replied, throat tight. She felt worse the more she thought about what she’d said.

“Do you think it was the right thing to say to Tony?”

“No,” Kate mumbled, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She _had_ been really mean to Tony even though it was an accident. He hadn’t meant to break her doll, after all; he’d only wanted to play with it. And sure, he shouldn’t have yanked on it, but Kate shouldn’t have yelled at him, either. “Tony… I’m sorry.”

Tony didn’t move his head from Papa’s shoulder, his back shaking as he cried. Kate crawled over and wrapped her arms around him, tears slipping down her own cheeks.

“You’re not the worst baby brother ever, Tony. I shouldn’t have said that,” Kate mumbled. “Sometimes you get on my nerves, but you’re a good baby brother. I’m sorry.”

Tony pulled his head from where it was buried in Papa’s shoulder, his sobs tapering off.

“Not the worst baby brother?”

“No. I’m still mad you broke my doll, but you’re not the worst baby brother.”

Tony sniffled and Kate hugged him. She didn’t like when Tony acted like a brat, but she  _ hated  _ to see him cry.

“Okay, now that you two have figured that out,” Papa said, standing up from the floor. “We’re gonna need to talk about what just happened here.”

Kate and Tony both dropped their gazes to the floor. Papa stood in front of them, arms crossed.

“Both of you know better than to behave the way you just did,” Papa scolded. “Kate, you need to use kinder words, even when you’re upset. If Tony does something that bothers or upsets you, then you come and get me so I can take care of it. Understand?”

“Yes, Papa,” Kate mumbled, eyes downcast.

“And Tony, there are plenty of toys to play with. If Kate wants one doll to herself and is willing to share the rest of her toys, you can pick another toy to play with. Otherwise, you can sit with me and not play at all. Got it?”

“Mhm,” Tony mumbled around the pacifier he’d shoved back into his mouth.

“Use your words, Tony,” Papa instructed.

“Yes, Papa,” Tony corrected, studying the floor.

“Alright, now I’m letting you both off with a warning tonight. But next time I catch you fighting like that, both of you will be spending some time in a corner. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, Papa,” Kate and Tony said in unison.

“Good,” Papa said. “Now, hand me the doll so I can fix it.”

“You can fix her?” Kate gasped. Papa could fix her! Kate should’ve known! Papa could fix anything!

“Yeah, ‘course I can. Hand her here.”

Kate handed Papa her Barbie, head in one hand and body in another. Papa took both pieces and Kate watched in awe as he popped them both together in one quick motion, leaving her Barbie whole and as good as new in his hand.

“Here, sweetheart. Her neck will be a little sore for a few days, but she’ll be alright,” Papa said, handing Kate back her doll.

Kate grinned and threw herself at Papa’s legs, wrapping her arms around them. “Thanks, Papa! You’re the best!”

Papa chuckled and stroked her hair. “You’re welcome, kiddo. And Tony,” he pointed a stern finger at the boy, “I don’t want to see this doll anywhere near your hands ever again. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Tony mumbled, red-rimmed eyes fixed to the floor.

“Now, do you have something to say to Kate?” Papa asked Tony, fixing him with a firm look. Tony looked at Kate and took his pacifier out of his mouth.

“‘M sorry, Katie,” Tony murmured. “I really didn’ mean to break your doll, but I shouldn’t ‘a touched her in the first place.”

“Apology accepted,” Kate smiled, pulling him into a quick sideways hug. “But  _ don’t _ let it happen again.”

“I won’t,” Tony promised.

“Alright, now that we’ve gotten that settled, who’s ready for dinner?” Papa asked. Kate perked up, her stomach growling to answer Papa’s question. Papa laughed at the noise. “That’s one hungry kid. How about you, Tony?”

“Guess so,” Tony said quietly.

Papa gave him a concerned look but made no comment on his unusually quiet response. Kate frowned at Tony. Usually he was more than a little excited about dinner time. Was he still upset over what she’d said? She really hadn’t meant it when she had called him the worst baby brother ever. Should she apologize again?

Before Kate could think of what to do to make Tony feel better, Papa let out a sigh. “Let’s go eat, then.”

Kate stood up and made to move to the kitchen, but Tony didn’t move. She paused, frowning deeper at her little brother.

“Coming, kiddo?” Papa asked.

Tony shrugged, the corners of his mouth turned downward.

“Want me to carry you?”

Tony paused for a second and played with his fingers, then nodded reluctantly.

“Okay, let’s go,” Papa said, pulling Tony up into a standing position, then hoisting him up with a small grunt. Tony put his head in Papa’s shoulder and Papa walked into the kitchen as Kate followed, biting her lip. Something was wrong with Tony, for sure. Kate just didn’t know what to do about it.

Papa set Tony down in his spot and Kate took a seat next to him while Papa fixed their plates.

“Tony, you okay?” Kate asked. Tony had his chin resting on top of his hands, which were laid flat against the table.

“Mhm,” Tony replied, studying the wood grain of the table rather than look at Kate.

Papa walked over with their plates and set one in front of each of them. “Dig in,” he said, sitting down at his own place at the table with a plate.

Kate picked up her fork and began eating but Tony didn’t move.

“Tony? You gonna eat?” Papa asked patiently.

Tony continued staring at the table, a frown on his face.

Papa put down his fork. “Want me to help you?”

“No,” Tony muttered.

“Well, eat your food, kiddo. It’s gonna get cold,” Papa said.

Tony sighed but picked up his fork, clumsily pulling away a piece of gooey lasagna and shoving it in his mouth. Papa picked his fork up and continued eating.

Tony ate about half of his lasagna before he gave up, electing instead to stab his lasagna over and over again with his fork.

“Don’t play with your food, Tony,” Papa reprimanded.

Tony sighed.

Papa frowned at the noise. “You okay, kid?”

“‘M fine! Stop asking me that!” Tony yelled, throwing his fork down. Kate flinched at the clatter, her stomach starting to feel all knotted up.

“Hey,” Papa barked. “You do  _ not  _ raise your voice at me. Lose the disrespect.”

“Whatever,” Tony muttered, crossing his arms and glaring at the table.

“Excuse me?” Papa said, eyes wide and jaw set.

“I said whatever!” Tony exclaimed, fixing Papa with his glare. Kate watched in shock, completely frozen to her seat.

“That’s it,” Papa said, setting his fork down. “You’re spending some time in the corner. Let’s go.”

“No!” Tony exclaimed.

“This isn’t a debate. Get up.”

Papa stood from his chair and Tony whined, hunkering down in his seat and grabbing tightly to the sides, his knuckles turning white.

“Tony, you can make this easy or hard, but either way, you’re going in time out,” Papa said, a warning note in his voice. Kate silently begged Tony to listen so he wouldn’t make this any worse for himself.

“No!”

“Get. Up. Now.” Papa had on a scary face that made Kate nervous, and it wasn’t even directed at her. Not even Tony could stand up to such a scary face — his breath hitched and his eyes welled with tears. 

“No, Papa, ‘m sorry!”

“It’s too late for that. I’ve given you plenty of warnings,” Papa said. “Now let’s go.”

Tony didn’t move, remaining latched to his chair as he began to cry.

Kate watched as Papa grabbed Tony under the armpits and tugged, and Tony let out a sob, gripping the chair tighter.

“ _ No!  _ I’ll be good!”

Papa didn’t respond, just gave another tug under Tony’s armpits and finally, Tony lost his grip on the chair. He went limp as Papa picked him up, all of the fight draining out of him as he sobbed into Papa’s shoulder.

“I’ll be right back, Kate,” Papa said, walking out of the kitchen with a sobbing Tony.

Kate could hear Papa carry Tony upstairs and Tony’s sobs became more muffled, though they increased in intensity. From the direction of the noise, they were in Kate and Tony’s bedroom. Kate had mostly finished her food, but she wasn’t hungry for what little she had left all of a sudden.

Papa came back downstairs a few minutes later, but Tony wasn’t with him. Kate could still hear Tony crying from the bedroom. The sound made her tummy go all twisty.

“Is he in a lot of trouble?” Kate asked, worrying at the hem of her shirt.

“He’s just gonna spend some time alone upstairs until he calms down,” Papa soothed. “I think he might just be worked up from what happened earlier. We’ll all talk about it together as soon as he’s calmed down a little. Sound good?”

Kate nodded, the knots in her stomach loosening. She didn’t want Tony to be in a lot of trouble, especially when she was pretty sure he was only so upset because of what she had said to him.

“You done eating?” Papa asked. Kate nodded and Papa stood, grabbing the remnants of their dinners and taking them over to the sink.

Ten minutes had passed before they could no longer hear Tony crying upstairs, Papa and Kate cleaning up the kitchen while they waited.

“You wanna come check on him with me?” Papa asked Kate.

Nodding vigorously, Kate followed Papa up the stairs to the bedroom. Before they had even entered the room, Kate could hear Tony’s shuddering breathing.

Papa walked into the room and Tony’s head whipped around, eyes wide in relief.

“You ready to come out of time out?” Papa asked.

Tony nodded vigorously.

“Alright, c’mon,” Papa made a gesture with his head as he spoke, and Tony tripped over himself to stand up from the corner of the room. He got up and ran over to Papa, wrapping his arms around him. Thirty seconds passed and Tony didn’t let go, letting out quiet, shuddering cries into Papa’s shoulder.

Papa sighed and walked Tony over to his bed, guiding them both into a sitting position. Kate walked over to her own bed and gingerly sat down, fiddling her fingers together. She hated to see Tony this upset, and it made her feel ten times worse as she thought about how it was all her fault.  _ Kate _ should’ve been the one in the corner.

“What’s got you so worked up tonight, kid?” Papa asked Tony, grabbing Tony’s blanket and putting it in his arms. Tony let go of Papa and grabbed the material desperately, but stayed latched to Papa’s side.

“I was bad an’ now Katie and Papa hate me,” Tony hiccuped, hugging his blanket to his chest. Kate’s stomach dropped to her feet. She didn’t hate Tony! Did he really think that she hated him?

“Kiddo, nobody hates you. You just had a bad day,” Papa said, stroking Tony’s back. “We all have bad days sometimes and that’s okay. No mistake you made today couldn’t be fixed.”

“Yeah, I don’t hate you, Tony,” Kate insisted, eyes wide. “I’m not even mad anymore! Papa fixed my doll anyways so everything is okay.”

For some reason, that only made Tony cry harder. Kate felt a lump grow in her throat. What if she had messed up so bad that there was nothing she could say to make things better?

“What’s wrong? Can you use your words for me?”

“D-daddy always said th-that people only tell the truth when they’re angry,” Tony cried, wiping at his eyes miserably. “An’ that means Katie thinks I’m the worst baby brother ever deep down, even if she says she doesn’t! ‘Cause she told me so when she was angry!”

“Tony, I don’t think that about you at  _ all. _ I only said that because I was upset, not because it’s true! I really didn’t mean what I said,” Kate insisted. She had to get Tony to believe her.

Papa gave her a soft smile and Kate felt the tightness in her chest loosen just a bit. Papa could help her fix this, she realized. Papa could fix anything! 

“Kate’s right. In my experience, most people actually say things they  _ don’t  _ mean when they’re angry. Things they end up wishing they could take back.”

“Yeah, I do wish I could take it back,” Kate mumbled. “I’m so sorry I made you think that I hated you, Tony, but it’s not true. I promise. And I’m your big sister, I wouldn’t make a promise like that unless I meant it.”

Kate walked over to Tony’s bed and sat on the other side of him. She leaned into him a bit, giving him a half-hug while Papa continued to rub his back in wide, soothing circles. The three of them stayed in that position for a few minutes before Tony’s crying tapered off.

“Feel better?” Papa asked. Tony nodded, shoving his thumb in his mouth. Kate grabbed one of his pacifiers off the nightstand and handed it to him, and he replaced his thumb with the pacifier.

“Don’ hate me?” Tony asked, looking at Kate with wide eyes and creased eyebrows.

“No, Tony, I don’t hate you. And I think you’re a really good baby brother, too,” Kate said, hugging him. She could feel some of the tension leave Tony’s body as she spoke. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that he finally believed her.

“And Tony,” Papa said from Tony’s other side, “your father was wrong, okay? Certain emotions might make some people tell the truth, but for other people, it makes them say things they don’t mean. It all depends on the person.”

“Yeah, sometimes I say things I don’t mean when I get mad,” Kate said, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. “I’m really sorry I hurt your feelings, Tony.”

“‘S okay,” Tony mumbled, eyelids beginning to droop. “‘Pology accepted.”

Kate leaned against Tony’s side and gave him a hug. Tony then let out a yawn and Kate rubbed at her eyes. Papa chuckled.

“I think,” Papa declared, “that it’s time for bed.”

Tony nodded and sniffled, resting his head on Papa’s shoulder. It was clear that he’d worn himself out. Kate didn’t protest either, quite exhausted by the events of the night herself.

Papa stood from the bed and went to the closet, handing Kate a pair of pajamas to change into. He then took Tony into the bathroom to get cleaned up, and while they were gone, Kate changed and climbed into bed, eyes already slipping closed by the time Papa and Tony returned to the bedroom.

“Sweetheart, can you go brush your teeth for me before you fall asleep?” Papa asked, shaking Kate’s shoulder slightly to wake her up.

Kate opened her eyes and sighed, climbing out of bed and trudging to the bathroom to finish getting ready. She quickly brushed her teeth, used the bathroom, and washed her hands, and returned to the bedroom only minutes later.

Papa was sitting at the end of Tony’s bed and Tony was already asleep, pacifier bobbing under his nose and blanket curled around his fist. Kate climbed into her own bed with a yawn and grabbed her teddy bear from the nightstand, hugging it under her arm.

Papa walked over to Kate’s bed and tucked her in, brushing her hair out of her face. Kate sighed and closed her eyes.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” Papa murmured, standing up from her bed and beginning to walk out of her room.

“Papa?” Kate said, opening her heavy eyes. She was really tired, but she needed to ask Papa something before she fell asleep.

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“Tony knows I don’t hate him, right?” Kate whispered, hugging her bear to her chest.

Papa walked back over to her bed and sat down, patting her arm comfortingly. Kate relaxed under the touch.

“Yeah, sweetie, he knows. I don’t think Tony ever really thought that you hated him. He just wasn’t thinking clearly,” Papa soothed.

“This was all my fault,” Kate mumbled, guilt gnawing at her.

“It wasn’t your fault, sweetheart,” Papa assured her. “Tony has a hard time trusting that people don’t think badly of him, but that’s not because of anything that you did. You did everything you could to make things better when you realized that you had hurt his feelings.”

“I guess so,” Kate said.

“Trust me, Kate,” Papa said. “Tony knows that you didn’t mean it. He just had a rough week like you did, and he was more sensitive than usual tonight because of it.”

Kate nodded, but she knew Papa could tell she still didn’t feel better. It made sense that she couldn’t have possibly known the effect her words would have on Tony, but she still knew that they weren’t nice when she said them. That meant that it was still her fault.

“If you really want to make it up to him, you know what we could do?” Papa asked, mouth turning up in a grin.

“What?”

“We could get up early and make him chocolate chip pancakes,” Papa whispered.

Kate grinned. “Yes! Can we?”

“Sure thing,” Papa replied, patting her arm. “First thing tomorrow, I’ll get you up before Tony gets up so we can cook. Sound like a plan?”

“Uh huh! Tony loves chocolate chip pancakes,” Kate noted, excited that Papa was going to help her make things right. He really could fix anything.

“Alright, now get some sleep, sweetheart,” Papa said, standing from her bed. “Sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight, Papa,” Kate said, eyes slipping closed as soon as Papa left the room. She was excited to make Tony pancakes tomorrow, but her excitement wasn’t enough to fend off the exhaustion she felt from the events of the day. Next to her, Tony dreamt away, and Kate quickly followed him into slumber. 

Tomorrow, Tony would know without a doubt that she didn’t hate him, Kate thought as she drifted off. Chocolate chip pancakes were sure to do the trick.


End file.
